"Becoming Victoria"


I am honoured and excited to have been invited by the Llandrindod Wells Victorian Festival committee to appear as a young Queen Victoria at this year's festival from 22nd-28th August 2016. In preparation for this role I will be designing and making the costumes for the young queen over the coming months. These will be authentic reproductions of the fashions of the early years of Victoria's reign and will include a range of 1840s women's garments from corsets and petticoats to day dresses, ball gowns and bonnets. This blog will document and share my progress as I research, design and stitch each element to reveal the secrets of "Becoming Victoria".

Tuesday, 21 June 2016

From tiara to coronet

61 days to go...

Jumping briefly from the beginning to the end of the project, I took the opportunity today to rework a simple tiara to resemble one of Queen Victoria's coronets/tiaras. For attendance at the Festival's Grand Ball and other evening events I was inspired by Winterhalter's 1846 painting of the Royal Family to recreate the sapphire tiara worn by Her Majesty.

The Royal Family in 1846, by F.X. Winterhalter, Oil on canvas, 1846. Royal Collection
This tiara was part of a suite, consisting of a sapphire tiara, earrings and brooch, that were designed for Victoria by Prince Albert. 






To recreate this, I used silver jewellery wire to attach deep blue Lapis Lazuli beads to simple silver and crystal bridal tiara.


The original tiara

The Lapis Lazuli beads
The completed tiara

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